Why are audiophile vinyl manufacturers ignoring Europe?
Here’s a strange question – how many premium American brands can you name? Although the United States dominates the technology world with companies like Apple, Facebook and Google, there are few American branded products (with the exception of Tesla cars, Grado headphones and Benchmark Hi-Fi) that appeals to me. One thing (from my perspective) that they do have is fantastic audiophile vinyl labels: Music Matters, Analogue Productions, Mobile Fidelity, Impex, Org etc. In Europe, we have Speakers Corner and Pure Pleasure but little else. To buy AP or MM records in Europe is frighteningly expensive – if you can get them the price is approximately twice that in the USA – presumably due to tariffs, duties etc. Many of the records I buy, for normal prices are pressed in the US ( as in “pressed at RTI”) on the label, so it must be possible to source vinyl from the States without it costing the earth. I am sure that there are lots of record enthusiasts, like me, who would love to subscribe to any of the Music Matters series, at American prices, but are prohibited by our overly aggressive customs and excise folks (I’m sure people walk through airports each day wearing jewellery that costs thousands , but try and buy $50 worth of vinyl from Amazon!).
So, here’s a suggestion. Now that Music Matters have basically ceased their Blue Note series – why not partner up with Speakers Corner, send over their stampers, press lots of great vinyl at Pallas and make lots of money from us Europeans? “There’s cash in that attic.”
Aside: why not make do with the UMG blue note reissues. Here is an example: I have 3 or 4 copies of “Something Else” by Cannonball Adderley on vinyl, 2 or 3 CD versions and the 24-192 version available on HD tracks. A few months ago I bought a copy of the De Augustini “Jazz at 33” magazine that included “Something Else.” I was surprised how good the record sounded – certainly better than any of the CDs; better than the high res digital version and a 2008 US reissue. Then I noticed a Music Matters 180g 33rpm reissue available for €50 or €60 on Amazon.de. I had to know – are these audiohpile reissues really that good. They are. Aside from the unbelievable quality of the sleeve and flag pressing of the record, the sound on this release is breath-taking. It is warm, with a full-phat 3 dimensional soundstage. In comparison, the high resolution version sounds thin and stiff. If ever a record was produced to demonstrate the value of vinyl, this is it. I, having no alternative, have bought several of the 75th anniversary Blue Note releases. For some of these I also made use of Qobuz sublime to buy the high res version (for less than the price of a CD). They sound the same. This is particularly distressing considering that I am currently listening to vinyl from a €400 Project Debut Carbon turntable, and the digital files through the Benchmark DAC 2 HGC. They sound the same: a bit thin, a bit flat, not much soundstage. Are Music Matters 33rpm worth twice the price. Yes, absolutely, no doubt.
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